


Birds of a Feather Flock Together

by Lawlietluver



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Kawoshin - Freeform, M/M, its pretty fluffy, sad shinji
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-05-25 06:59:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6185128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lawlietluver/pseuds/Lawlietluver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shinji moves to a new town with his guardian Misato and her fiance Kaji when he encounters a strange white haired boy with a big secret, He has wings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everybody! I love this pairing so much you guys have no idea. I finally decided to sit down and actually write some fanfiction for it! I hope you all like the first chapter! Enjoy!

Shinji could sum up his life in a series of car rides. He leaned his forehead against the cool glass window, his music blaring in his ears. It was the same track over and over again. His father abandoned him and his mother when he was a child. He clearly remembered the tears streaming down his face as the car sped away from his father’s looming figure. His mother died a few years later in a work related accident. He never got the details. The car ride back to his father was eerily quiet. His father was never home. His father never cared. To him Shinji was a parasite feeding off his time and money. A teacher noticed the signs of neglect and the boy was removed from the house. He remembered sitting in a car while watching his father getting taken away. He was leaving him again.

Now was supposed to be different though. This trip was supposed to be positive, although Shinji wasn’t so sure. He was never really sure though. He was traveling with his new foster parent, a woman named Misato as well as her fiance Kaji. Shinji thought that they would make better parents to someone other than him but, he did feel a bond with Misato ever since they first met in the temporary home Shinji had been placed in right after his father was taken away. She had told him that she had never got along with her father either. The two were making idle conversation up at the front of the car. The radio was turned on to a slight hum creating a little white noise.

They were moving out of the town towards a place closer to the coast. “A little ocean breeze will be good for you Shinji! Besides it’s not good to be in a place with all those crappy memories eh?” Misato has told him when she introduced the idea to him. He didn’t really care where he was anyway. He awoke to someone nudging him gently. He blinked awake, he didn’t even notice that he had fallen asleep.

“Shinji were here!” Misato said cheerfully.

He groggily sat up and took out his headphones. Out the window was a tall apartment complex, presumably where he would be living. “Oh.” was all he managed to say. Kaji was already opening up the trunk and taking out some of the bags. Misato just patted Shinji before hopping out of the car to help. The young boy gathered up his father’s old tape player and minimal belongings and exited the car. He had to admit that the sea breeze actually did feel pretty good as it blew overhead. 

The apartment was a decent size. Misato immediately cried out in happiness at the large fridge while Kaji just laughed a bit at her reaction remarking, “Save some room for actual food in that okay.” She lightly punched his arm. Shinji’s room was on the small size, but it’s not like he felt he needed that much room anyway. He placed his bags on the floor and began unpacking. The apartment came furnished with a few items, including a bed frame and dresser. He tucked away his clothes in said dresser and placed the one photo he found of his mother on top of it. The image had been hidden in his father’s house in an old desk drawer surrounded by crinkled up paperwork. His father had told him that he had burned all his mother’s pictures so discovering that one bent image had been like discovering treasure. There was a knock at the door and he turned to see Kaji standing in the doorway. 

“Hey kid the moving truck just got here, I need your help.” He said with a grin.  
Shinji was a small boy with long lanky arms and legs and wasn’t very strong at all, but he followed behind Kaji and helped him lift a couple things up to the home. 

It wasn’t till the late afternoon till everything was somewhat in place in the new home. His bed had a mattress and Misato helped him add sheets and straighten up everything else. He had a small rug on the floor and a poster of a musician he liked. Misato had seen him eyeing it at a convenience store once and promptly bought it for him. He also tried to avoid looking at his old cello tucked away in the corner of the room. After a quick microwavable meal, Shinji excused himself to go to sleep. He felt a mixture of emotions as he layed back on his new bed, headphones playing the classical music he liked so much. 

He couldn’t but feel out of place in this happy little family. Misato was kind and did feel like a guardian. Kaji was also nice to him and treated him like a real person and not some damaged kid. But a part of him felt like he didn’t deserve this kindness. He curled up into a little ball, burrowing into his covers. Why did he always have to doubt honest and good people. He clicked the volume up a few notches and tried to sleep. 

Two weeks dragged by as Shinji got accustomed to his new life. He started going back to school despite Misato saying he didn’t have to go back immediately if he wasn’t ready. He couldn’t stay at the apartment, he couldn’t handle the emptiness. So he went to school. He had been popular exactly one day. The day he stood fidgeting in front of the class as he was introduced as the transfer student. Everyone had questions and no one would take “I just moved here that’s all.” as an answer. He had dreaded going to school the next day only to learn that the fad of a transfer student arriving had already dissipated. Shinji figured he was too dull to hold their curiosity which wasn’t to much of a surprise. 

However this day was different. He had been walking home from school when he decided to take a different street. He purposely took a wrong turn, wandering down an unknown sidewalk. For some reason he really didn’t want to get home and hear Misato ask him how his day was. He didn’t want to say, “Fine.” He didn’t want her to ask if he’d made friends and see her mouth frown a little in disappointment when he says no one talks to him. He didn’t really want to do much of anything really. After wandering for a bit he came across a small park. It had a swing set and red plastic slide. There were a couple of kids snickering and playing in a sad excuse for a sand pit. He crossed to the swing set and sat down. He stared at his hands and tried to just pay attention to the swell of the music in his ears and not the pit of loneliness he felt. The children were lead away by their mother and Shinji was alone. ‘Even they leave’ he thought bitterly to himself even though he knew it was childish to think that. 

The sky was turning red and he wondered to himself if Misato was worried. He dragged his feet around in the dirt beneath his swing and felt the guilt rush over him. 

“I musn’t run away I mustn't run away I mustn't run away” He chanted to himself over and over. 

Shinji turned his head at the sound of someone taking the swing besides him. It was a boy with striking white hair, wearing the same kind of school uniform as Shinji. He also had dark red eyes staring straight into his blue ones. Shinji jumped a bit at the unexpected site, causing the other boy to smile a little bit. 

“I’m sorry, did I scare you?” his entrance had startled Shinji a bit but he shook his head. “Good I didn’t want to frighten you, you just seemed so lonely over here.”

He didn’t know what to say to that. Yes he was lonely? Yes everyone seemed to naturally gravitate away from his depressing aura? He’d been abandoned by all those who he thought loved him? Shinji opted to continue saying nothing.

“Hmm I see, well my name is Kaworu Nagisa and I hope you don’t mind terribly if I sat here beside you.” 

The boy outstretched his pale hand and Shinji decided to take it. 

“I’m Shinji and I don’t mind you sitting there.” He hated how quiet his voice sounded.

They shook hands and then went back to just slightly moving back and forth on the swings.

“So I see you have the same uniform as I, you are the new transfer student I heard had come a few weeks back right? Or are you really good at hiding from me all school year?”

“The first one, I guess I’m not really the cool kind of transfer student people were expecting.” Kaworu shrugged his shoulders at Shinji’s remark.

“Those types of transfer students only happen in anime they should know better.” Shinji let himself smile a little bit, at least someone got it. Kaworu’s face immediately lit up at that.

“So Shinji what brings you out to this neighborhood? Do you live around here?”

“I actually got a little lost.” Shinji lied. “I kind of gave up and just stopped here.”

“Oh dear do you need help getting home?” Kaworu’s beam was replaced with a concerned frown. 

“Oh um you don’t have to help me I can find my way back.” 

“Nonsense, c’mon I know this area, do you remember your address pr maybe any landmarks?” Shinji shook his head sadly he hadn’t quite memorized the apartment address yet and felt even more guilt at his indecision.

Kaworu caught his frown and put a hand to the other boys chin, gently creating eye contact.

“Hey where did that smile go? Here would an aerial view help more?” 

“What? aerial view?” 

Kaworu removed his hand and gave Shinji a wink. He then pulled off his shirt to reveal tightly folded pure white bird wings. Shinji’s breath caught in his throat as he watched his fellow student roll his shoulders and extend his eight foot long wings. 

“Please don’t be afraid.” Kaworu approached him slowly, his hands extended in front of him like he was approaching a spooked animal.

“A-are those wings?”

Kaworu grinned a bit. “Yes and I promise I can explain everything but first I believe that you need to get home correct?” 

“When you said aerial view you meant flying.” A nod. 

Shinji was still stunned, he was convinced he had finally gone over the edge. All he could think was that he was so desperate he imagined himself up an angel to save him from his own personal hell. Or maybe he was finally dead and this was angel would take him back to his mother. He took a step back.

“Are you real?”

“As real as you are.” Kaworu extended a hand like he had just a few minutes before. “You can touch me I promise I’m real and I promise I am just a regular classmate.” 

Shinji was very doubtful of the ‘regular classmate’ part but still tentatively reached over to brush his palm’s with Kaworu’s. He could feel his skin and warmth, just like he had when he shook his hand just a moment ago. Then without warning Kaworu scooped him up in his arms and held him up princess style. All the warmth in Shinji’s body fled to his face. 

“Kaworu what are you doing?”

“Helping a friend find his way home.” And with that the winged boy took a running start and jumped into the air, vigorously flapping his wings. Shinji clutched onto Kaworu as he flew them over the town. 

“Kaworu what if someone sees us?” 

“Shh It will be fine I’m sneaky. Now where do you live?” Shinji steeled himself before looking down at the houses below him. 

They weren’t too high off the ground but high enough that Shinji could make out the streets and buildings without too much of a hassle. He soon recognized the road that he used to walk home from school. He pointed it out and Kaworu aimed for that road, touching down a bit harshly, the momentum making the boys collapse in a pile. Kaworu immediately sat up.

“Oh dear are you okay Shinji? I’m not all that good at landings.” Shinji pushed himself up onto his arms, looking up at his concerned friend. His friend. Kaworu had called him his friend.

“I’m fine don’t worry about me.”

“You will never stop me from worrying.” The winged boy said with a small smile. He then stood up from the ground and offered Shinji a hand up, which the boy took. Kaworu put a hand on Shinji’s shoulder.

“Okay well I must be off, I believe your search party will be here soon.” It was true, Shinji could hear the faint calls of his name a bit further down the road. “Oh and Shinji please keep what you saw a secret okay? I’ll explain everything later.” 

“Okay. Thank you for taking me here.”

“Of course.” 

And he was gone. Shinji watched him glide away into the darkness, his white wings standing out vividly against the black background. So much for sneaky. Shinji felt his knees go a bit weak and he collapsed, hands on the ground. He was still trying to process all the events that happened to him when the voice in the distance found him. Kaji crouched down next to him cautiously. 

“Shinji? Are you okay? we’ve been looking for you for hours.” His voice sounded like a mix of authority and concern. 

Shinji heard him but didn’t respond. He was just staring at the single small white feather that fell after Kaworu’s departure. That had to prove it. That had to prove that he hadn’t imagined everything. That had to show that he hadn’t thought himself an imaginary friend to make up for his lack of friends. He felt Kaji crouch beside him and lightly pat his shoulder. He heard him taking out his phone and dialing whom he presumed to be Misato. He wasn’t mistaken.  
“I found him . . yes he is a few roads down. . . . yes okay.” And with that he closed the phone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man I was planning to wait to post this Friday but more people liked than I expected! Thanks for all the Kudos and nice comments! I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Misato dropped him off in front of the school the next morning. This was apparently going to be a thing now. Kaji would be picking him after school. Shinji had explained how he just had gotten “lost” and happened to find his way back by the time Kaji found him sitting in the street. She said she believed him but her eyes said otherwise. So now they were making sure he wouldn’t be getting lost anymore. 

He waved bye to Misato as she pulled away from the school. He was earlier than usual so that Misato could make it to work on time, so only a few students could be seen milling around the school yard. He found himself up on the school’s roof, headphones in his ears. The breeze felt nice on his face as he lay back on the concrete. He jolted upright when he heard the loud bang of the door to the roof opening. He spun around to once again see the white haired boy from the swingset.

“It appears I’ve startled you again.” Shinji just shook his head.

“It’s fine I get startled easy, I’m sorry.” 

“No don’t be sorry.” He said as he slowly walked towards the other boy, sitting down in front of him. 

“What are you listening too?” 

Shinji looked down at the tape player self-consciously before saying

“It’s nothing.” 

“What, is it the kind of music where people scream a lot.” The brunette shook his head rapidly.

“No no it’s um classical.” Kaworu’s face lit up. 

“Ah I see another classical music lover! I thought I was the only one around here.” He shifted closer to Shinji but not too close to intrude on any boundaries.   
“May I listen as well?”

The other boy was still unsure of sharing his music so he decided to change up the subject.

“I um think you need to tell me something first.” 

“Oh yes of course! I need to explain it to you! Sorry you must have a lot of questions huh?” 

Shinji just nodded, he still had the feather that the winged boy had dropped the other day. It was the only way he could convince himself that it was real. 

“Well I guess I’ll start from the beginning, when I was a very small child my parents volunteered me to be experimented on by this big science company called Nerv for their “angel project” He made the finger quotes and everything. “They never really told me much but they grafted wings on to me I guess, they never bothered telling their experiments they’re sciency plans.” 

“Where do you live then? With the scientists?” Kaworu chuckled a bit at Shinji’s question. 

“No I just have to go their often, I live with my siblings at my parent’s home. A couple of my siblings are also being used for research.” Kaworu had been saying all this information with a smile but Shinji could tell he was just trying to play it off for his sake. 

“That’s um bad isn’t it?” The winged boy shrugged and looked away.

“It’s not too bad.” 

Shinji stared at this hands, he felt like he might have stepped over some boundary even though it was Kaworu who offered up this information. He couldn’t help but wish he could just take back everything he asked and crawl into a hole and never come out. Instead he pulled out his tape player again, handing one of the headphones to his new friend.

“Thanks for telling me, although why did you decide to show me? I mean we had just met and you probably aren’t allowed to show those um wings off.” Kaworu gave Shinji a sad smile and put in the headphone.

“I showed you because it’s no fun to have secrets and not share them with friends.” There was that word again, “friend” Then another thought struck him, did Kaworu not have any other friends? That seemed pretty absurd. 

“And besides you were lost weren’t you? I couldn’t just leave you stranded like that.” 

Sure he could have Shinji thought bleakly to himself. They were silent for a little while just listening to the music. Shinji couldn’t help but fidget uncomfortably. He only had a couple tracks on the device he liked to play over and over again, surely Kaworu must be bored of it. He shyly glanced over at the boy next to him. To his surprise Kaworu was looking back at him. He gave Shinji a soft smile when their eyes met and Shinji could feel warmth pooling in his stomach. Shinji quickly averted his eyes and turned a bit away from the other boy. The warning bell rang signaling that classes would start soon and they both quickly stood up. 

“Thank you for letting me listen to your music with you.” Shinji just nodded, still not making eye contact. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lunch time rolled around and Shinji didn’t feel like eating the lunch Misato had thrown together for him. It didn’t exactly look all that appealing and after a few reluctant bites Shinji was assured it didn’t taste any better than it looked. He really needed to start making his own lunch again. He was in the process of putting away the overcooked rice and undercooked everything else, when a tap on his desk made him look up. It was Kaworu standing beside a quiet girl he recognized from his class. 

“Kaworu? When did you get here? I thought you were in a different class.” Shinji’s eyes glancing between the white haired boy and the short haired girl. 

“My friend Rei here said that it was her class that had the new transfer student and I figured it would be fun to eat lunch with you guys!” He held up a white bento box. 

“Right.” Shinji said a little nervously, he had just started getting used to Kaworu and Rei seemed pretty intimidating. Of all the times Shinji had seen Rei it was always with a book in her hands and a distant look in her eyes, like her mind was elsewhere all the time. He was surprised that she had befriended someone as talkative as Kaworu, although then again what could he say since he had befriended the white haired boy too. Rei dragged a couple of chairs to Shinji’s desk and fumbled around her own bag for her lunch. Kaworu popped the top of his container before looking over curiously at Shinji. 

“Are you not hungry?” Shinji shrugged a bit at Kaworu’s question before replying.

“My um. . . guardian doesn't make the best lunches.”

Kaworu nodded in understandment and proceeded to push his lunch in between them. 

“Here I can’t have you starving away all class.” 

Shinji had to admit that the other boy’s food looked pretty appetizing but there was no way he was going to just take it. 

“I don’t want you be hungry either. . .” 

“Nonsense We’re sharing! besides Rei will give me some food too right?” Kaworu looked over at the short-haired girl expectantly.

Rei shook her head no and the trio had a small laugh.   
That afternoon when Kaji asked him about his day in the car on the way home Shinji could honestly say it was one of the best days he’s had in awhile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was on the shorter side, I wanted to originally combine it with another part but it didn't flow as well so expect next chapter to be on the long side to make up for it. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Hope you guys like this chapter!

Friday had quickly approached and Misato had pestered him the whole week about inviting his new friend over. She had been over the moon when Shinji had told her that he might have made a friend. So during lunch, Shinji had asked Kaworu (Rei being absorbed in a book) if he wanted to come over that day. 

“It’s really okay if you don’t want too, It’s just Misato has been really eager to meet you.”

“Yes! I would love too!” Kaworu’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. “I’ve never been asked over to someone’s house before, should I stop and get something?” 

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Shinji said nervously. “Although I’ve never asked someone to come over before so I’m not sure.” 

They both looked over to Rei. She peered over her book and shrugged a little bit at the pair. 

“What makes you think I would know?”She said dryly. 

Kaworu laughed while Shinji and Rei just exchanged amused glances. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shinji felt nervous as he led Kaworu up to the apartment. Kaji had let him walk home with his friend and was staying a little longer at work because of it and Misato also didn’t get off work for another hour. So the apartment was empty when Shinji unlocked the door and showed his friend inside. Kaworu looked around and commented that it was very tidy. The apartment had been unnaturally clean, most likely the work of Kaji. Shinji awkwardly sat down at the table and Kaworu followed suit. 

“Um would you like some tea?” he asked while staring at his hands, willing away the awkwardness.

“That would be lovely.” 

Shinji hastily stood up, happy that he had something to do other than be awkward and headed straight towards the small kitchen area. He opened a few drawers before finding the right one. 

“Right um what kind would you like?” 

He fumbled with the various tea boxes as he took them from the drawer, letting one fall to the floor. He started to turn to pick up the tea when he saw Kaworu already there holding the fallen box. 

“Would you like some help?” The white haired boy asked with a grin.

“Okay but only if you are sure.” 

“It’s no problem.” He carefully took two of the four tea boxes from Shinji. “Also I’m fine with anything.” 

That was not a very useful response for Shinji. He looked between all the boxes of tea wondering which Kaworu might appreciate most. Earl grey? No he seems more of a green tea kind of person. The winged boy must have been able to see the strained look on his friend’s face because he just gracefully took the Green tea box and smiled. 

“This one is fine, don’t worry too hard about it.”

“I wasn’t worrying.”

“Of course you weren’t” Kaworu chuckled and Shinji couldn’t help but smile. 

Misato arrived home to the two boys discussing a TV show in great detail over cups of tea. Shinji automatically noticed her arrival and Misato threw up a peace sign. 

“I’m Home!!” She said slipping off her shoes and walking further into the house. 

“Welcome home.” Shinji said back quietly. 

The woman smiled at that and sat down at the table with the two teens. She extended a hand to the white haired boy and introduced herself. 

“Hello! My name is Misato and I look after Shinji, You must be this famous friend he speaks of!.” Kaworu shook her hand. 

“Hello My name is Kaworu Nagisa, it’s a pleasure to meet you miss.”

“Oh just call me Misato I’m not that old yet.” She laughed at her own remark. “I’m so happy that Shinji was able to meet you! I was worried that he wouldn’t make any friends” 

Shinji looked away a bit embarrassed. 

“So Kaworu, are you and Shinji in the same class?”

“Unfortunately no but we have chances to talk in the mornings and lunchtime.”

“Ah! well that’s good!” 

Misato’s interrogation lasted another couple of minutes before Shinji could muster up the courage to excuse him and Kaworu to his room. He closed the door behind them and offered up a small sigh. Kaworu had already taken to looking around his small room. In Shinji’s opinion there wasn’t much to look at but he was sure his friend would find something positive to say. And he wasn’t wrong. Kaworu apparently recognized the artist from his poster and they soon started a light conversation about their favorite songs. 

Shinji ended up sitting on the edge of his bed along with Kaworu (it being the only real place to sit in the room) while they talked. He hadn’t even noticed that he and Kaworu had shifted closer to each other until their fingers had accidentally brushed together. He felt his face heat up as the pair fell into a comfortable silence. It was strange to Shinji that he let a person get so close to him. For some reason just being around the other boy seemed to draw out some inner peace. He was content to just sit beside him and appreciate his presence. 

“So Shinji I see you have a cello over there, do you play?” Kaworu said quietly.

He shook his head, he would never play around people. That cello was for the somber empty evenings that used to be everyday back when he lived with his dad. But he was told not to dwell on those memories so he didn’t. Kaworu just kept talking after sensing the delicate topic.

“I play the piano a lot at home. It can be very soothing you know.” Shinji’s heart fluttered when he felt Kaworu’s soft hand cover his. 

He quickly turned his head to make eye contact with the red eyed boy. It was one of the few times that Kaworu wasn’t smiling at him, his expression more somber. He felt Kaworu’s hand start to slide away from his so he quickly laced their fingers together. It felt right to hold his hand. Kaworu was smiling a little now. Then the boy’s phone went off and their hands separated when he went to check the device leaving Shinji a little disappointed. 

“Sorry I have to leave.” Kaworu said sadly as he rose from the bed. 

Shinji stood up with him and started leading him to the front door.

“It’s okay, thanks for coming over.”

He waved shyly and Kaworu gave him a small smile and waved back.

“See you at school next week!” Kaworu called before walking away.

Once his friend was out of eyesight, Shinji went back to the living space where Misato was sitting going through the channels on the television. 

“He seems really nice Shinji, I’m proud of you!” Misato said when she noticed him enter the room. He sat down beside her while she continued to flick through the shows. Apart of him really wanted to go back to his room, lay on his bed and remember the warmth in his stomach and the feeling of holding Kaworu’s hand. 

But he also didn’t feel like having to process the buzzing emotions in his brain so he stayed put. Misato settled on a romance drama and got up to get a beer from the fridge. He idly watched the incredibly cheesy show with Misato until Kaji returned home as well. 

That night when he lay in bed he found himself staring at the hand that he held Kaworu’s with. He could not deny that he had felt strange when close to the other boy. It was hard to sort out just what he felt though. The only other friends he had ever had were two boys from his old school and he had never felt like that around them. He curled in on himself and buried his head in his pillow trying to sort out his feelings. 

He thought about the drama he had watched with Misato. Maybe what he was feeling was romantic? He couldn’t be sure of that either since he never really felt those kinds of feelings towards anyone else. He also thought he liked girls anyway. Or maybe he liked both? He didn’t know what to think so he opted to just sleep. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning he woke up to a soft knocking at his door. He turned over to see Kaji standing in his doorway. 

“Hey kid sorry about waking you up but I was gonna start on sort of a home project and I wanted to see if you wanted to help me out.” 

Shinji honestly just kind of wanted to go back to sleep and stay there with his thoughts all day but he also was not very good at saying no. 

“Okay.”

After getting ready for the day he followed Kaji to a store selling various plants and plant holders. He let Shinji pick out a small house plant while he gathered various others as well as a couple packets of seeds. After buying all of it they headed back to the apartment where Kaji helped Shinji plant his small blue flowered plant into the ceramic pot. The pair were outside on the very small balcony attached to the apartment as to not get dirt all over the house. 

“So Shinji anything on your mind? You seem a little out of it.” Kaji asked casually as he started planting some more plants into their respective pots.

Shinji just shrugged a little bit, he wasn't sure if he wanted to spill all his guts to his guardian so quickly. 

“Uh can I ask you a question?" Shinji decided to start out with something more safe.

"Sure kid."

"How did you and Misato meet?"

Kaji let out a laugh and Shinji got ready for what was probably going to be a long story. 

“Well Misato would probably say something completely different but she was smitten with me after she met me. We were introduced to each other at a bar by some mutual friends and man we hit it off. We sang karaoke drunk for so long and annoyed the hell out of any one who tried to tell us to stop. She claimed she loved me or at least until the next day and we had both sobered up and went to work. only to learn that we both worked in the same company. If only you could have seen the look on her face when she saw me in her office the next day singing one of the karaoke songs.” Shinji grinned at the ridiculous image of a mad hung over Misato glaring at Kaji. “All I’ll say is that we were dating two weeks later and the rest is ancient history.” 

“Um If I can ask one more thing, uh how did you know that you liked her?” Shinji couldn’t believe that he was really asking but spending the day with Kaji had created this sort of comfortable atmosphere. Kaji sighed and looked up at the sky. 

“That’s a tough one, I would say I knew I liked her because I couldn’t get her out of my head. I knew I needed her in my life. Love is a hard feeling to put into words” He turned to Shinji. “Why do you have a crush or something?” He said playfully, then laughed a little bit when Shinji turned bright red. 

“I-I’m not sure if I have a crush actually.” Kaji hummed in understanding and went back to his plant. 

“Well you like being around this person right?” Shinji nodded. “Did you feel all warm inside when they are around you?” Another nod. “Hmm I would say you probably do.” Shinji gripped his potted plant anxiously.

“But um what if the person is a boy is it still a crush?” Kaji reached over and lightly patted Shinji’s shoulder.

“Gender doesn't matter when it comes to love.” Shinji let out a small breath he didn’t know that he had been holding. 

“Thanks Kaji.” 

“Anytime kid I’m full of great adult wisdom. And also always available if you need to talk to someone.” Shinji gave him a grateful nod and they both went back to their plants.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long delay, school has been picking up but I felt inspired to get this chapter up. Get ready for a lot of fluff!

The next Monday it wasn’t just Misato’s bad cooking that deterred Shinji from eating, this time it was the fluttering in his stomach that he felt whenever he glanced over at the white haired boy sitting besides him. He was beginning to notice things he really hadn’t seen before or at least acknowledged to himself. Kaworu was really pretty. Everything about him was graceful, even just him holding chopsticks seemed elegant. He couldn’t believe he didn’t realize all of this sooner or maybe he had but was lying to himself.

“Shinji? Shinjiii.”

Shinji snapped out of his daze to see his crush waving a hand in front of his eyes. 

“Ah sorry about that.” 

“Haha don’t be sorry you were really out of it, what were you thinking about?”

“N-nothing really um just you know . . . school.” Kaworu gave him a funny look and Shinji mentally kicked himself. 

“Oh I nearly forgot! Shinji can I have your phone number?” 

“What? Oh right, yea okay.” 

He reached for his bag and took out the cheap phone Misato had bought for him shortly after the time he got ‘lost’. He traded his phone with Kaworu’s and typed in his digits before handing it back. He looked over at Rei wondering if she wanted to exchange digits too but she just continued to flick through her book. 

“Rei doesn't have a phone.”

Kaworu said after noticing what his friend was trying to do. He gave a nod and returned to picking at his food. The rest of lunch carried on like normal until the very end before Kaworu had to go back to class. He pulled Shinji into the empty hallway with him and closed the door to the classroom.

“Kaworu? What is it?” 

“I just wanted to tell you thanks again for letting me come to your house.” 

“Of course, why did you take me out here to say that?”

“I wanted to ask you something. . . are you free this weekend?” 

“Um yea I should be.”

“Brilliant.” Kaworu shot him a dazzling smile. “I want to show you someplace really important.” 

“Really? What place?”

“It’s a surprise.” The bell signaled end of lunch and Kaworu ran off back to his class. Shinji stepped back into his classroom feeling a mixture of emotions. His heart was beating in delight at Kaworu wanting to show him some place important. It had to mean something right? He sat down at his desk and Rei shot him an inquisitive look and put away her book. 

“What did he want?”

“Um nothing.” She raised an eyebrow but said nothing about it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That evening when everyone had sat down to eat, Shinji’s phone went off. He jumped a little bit when the phone beeped alerting him to a new message. He scrambled to take his phone out of his pocket and check the text. It was from Kaworu. 

K: Hey Shinji :) 

He sat staring at his phone for a few seconds before he remembered you were supposed to respond to these things. He shakily typed out a message and sent it. 

S: hey

K: I just saw the latest episode of Detective Pen-Pen and it was so good!

S:I haven’t seen it yet

K: You have to see it! theres such a good plot twist

Shinji was deep in conversation when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to Misato giving him an amused look. 

“Hey Mr. Popular, we’re not done with food yet, save it for later.” Misato said in her best stern mother voice. Kaji just laughed.

“Let the boy text Misato, you don’t need me to bring up your lovely table manners.”

“Hey don’t you dare! I can’t believe you're pulling that card.”

Shinji smiled a bit at their antics before slipping his phone back into his pocket and went back to eating. Kaji’s food was actually pretty good and he wished that he could be the one making his lunches. Later that evening after the dishes were all clean and put away and Shinji had watched the latest episode of Detective Pen-Pen he resumed texting Kaworu. It was pretty late and he was laying in his bed about to try and sleep when the thought crossed him. He felt a little nervous of trying to text him so late at night but he also felt bad about leaving him hanging so he stammered out a text. 

S: are you still awake?

K: yup! Im quite the night owl if you get my drift ;)

K: because I have wings and I’m up late

Shinji shook his head at the joke but it had gotten him to smile again. 

S: I saw the episode

K: Wasn’t it great?! 

S: yes

K: I can’t believe that ending either, hopefully next episode will explain some stuff.

S: I hope so too

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To Shinji the days flew by and before he knew it he was sitting in a car being driven to Kaworu’s house. Misato just kept going on and on about how happy she was for him and how ‘man he really lives out in the middle of nowhere huh’. Shinji just stared out the window at the trees racing by. It kept eating at him. What place could Kaworu possibly take him that was a surprise? Ugh he really hated surprises they worried him to no end.   
They pulled up at a somewhat large house and after double checking the address, Misato let him out of the car. 

“Okay wave when someone comes to the door okay?” He nodded. “Great, have fun!” She gave him a double thumbs up and Shinji turned to the house. Before he even knocked the door was opened by a certain white-haired boy. 

“Shinji! You made it!”

“O-of course.” He quickly turned to give a small wave to Misato’s car, Kaworu also waved. He watched as the car pulled out of the driveway before turning back to Kaworu.

“So where is the secret place?” 

“Right! Follow me I’ll show you.” 

Kaworu smiled out of excitement and smoothly took Shinji’s hand in his and started leading him around to the back of the house. The pair   
crossed through the large grassy backyard and started down a small path through some trees. Shinji grew a little more worried the further they walked into the woods but with Kaworu’s hand in his he felt like it didn’t really matter. Kaworu would keep him safe.   
They walked through the woods only a few more minutes more before entering and even larger clearing than the backyard was. Kaworu stopped and reluctantly let go of Shinji’s hand. 

“Okay we’re almost there, but now the rest of the trip I’m gonna have to carry you.” 

“Wait you're going to fly aren’t you.” 

The white haired boy gave him a sheepish grin.

“It will be fine I promise. I won’t drop you.”

“It’s okay I trust you.” Shinji said truthfully. 

Kaworu’s already cheerful mood seemed to rise considerably after Shinji said that. He then like before, pulled off his shirt and stretched his pure white wings. Shinji was still amazed to see the big fluffy wings just like out of a story. Spending time with Kaworu the past weeks had almost made him forget that he had such pretty wings tucked tightly against his back. Kaworu caught him staring and chuckled before moving closer to the other boy.

“Do you want to feel them?, my feathers are pretty soft if I say so myself.” Shinji just nodded and shakily reached out a hand towards his friend’s back. The feathers were pretty soft.

“Okay Shinji are you ready?” A nod

“Wonderful!” 

Kaworu proceeded to once again pick his friend up princess style. 

“Okay just hold on really tight like before.” Shinji wrapped his arms around Kaworu’s shoulders in order to hold on, all the while blushing like crazy. After a quick takeoff, the pair were soaring over the tree line. Kaworu kept talking to distract Shinji from the fact that they were so high off the ground although it wasn’t necessary since Shinji was already pretty distracted by being so close to his crush. He just kept his eyes shut and tried not to think about how high up he was or the fact that his arms were literally draped over his crush’s chest. After a few minutes they experienced yet another rough landing as Kaworu tried to stop their momentum before they hit the ground. 

“Sorry I’m really working on that bit.” Kaworu said sadly while checking to make sure Shinji was okay. 

“It’s fine I think that went better than last time.” 

“Really? good then it’s nice to know I’m learning something.” 

The place that Kaworu had taken them was the sandy shore of what appeared to be a large pond or small lake, he wasn’t all that sure.

“I really like coming here to think or swim but I figured it would be more fun with you here.” 

“I’m not really a fun person.” Shinji mentally kicked himself, why did he always have to sound so gloomy. 

“What? Of course you are.” Kaworu held out a hand to the timid boy. “Come on let’s go in the water I promise it will be fun.” Shinji only hesitated a moment before taking it. 

“Wait shouldn't we take off our shoes or something.”

“Oh right we should probably do that.” 

They both slipped off their shoes and socks, placing them far up on the shore. They rolled up their pant legs and Shinji left his phone with his shoes. They then ran into the very shallow part of the water, laughing as they splashed each other. Kaworu lifted his wings above the water line so they wouldn’t get wet as they played around until they were worn out. The pair stumbled up to the upper parts of the shore to where a bright green patch of grass grew. They stretched out in the sunshine, trying to relax and get their clothes to dry a bit. After a few minutes of just laying in the sun Kaworu turned on his side to face his friend. 

“Hey Shinji can I tell you something a little strange?” Shinji turned over to face the other boy too. 

“You mean stranger than your wings?” They both laughed a little at that but Kaworu just shook his head.

“I just wanted to tell you that I know it’s only been a couple weeks but, I think that. . .” Kaworu shifted a bit closer causing Shinji’s breath to catch in his throat. 

“I think I was born to meet you.” It felt like a spell was cast over Shinji. He couldn’t move or breath, he could only stare into Kaworu’s deep red eyes and feel his heart pounding in his chest. He wasn’t sure what you were supposed to say to that, or what it meant really. All he could do was whisper.

“Really?” The other boy smiled softly and smiled. 

Feeling bravery he had never really felt before, Shinji cautiously reached out and let his hand close around Kaworu’s, also shifting closer. Kaworu lifted his unheld palm towards Shinji’s head and after getting a small nod of approval he ran his hand through the other boy’s dark hair. They were both sharing such a tranquil moment of hand holding and hair petting when Shinji shyly asked, “There’s only one thing I don’t get, why do you like me so much?”   
Kaworu hummed a bit before saying back, “You know you and me aren’t too different, even though you might think otherwise.” Kaworu paused a moment before saying.

“People always feel pain in their hearts Shinji, but I don’t want you to feel that pain anymore.” That’s when the first raindrops hit. They hadn’t even noticed the dark rain clouds forming overhead. Apart of Shinji felt happy that the conversation had ended. His heart was pounding and his face felt hot. Kaworu sat up and glanced up at the grey sky. 

“Well I just that means we better go, so much for drying off huh.” 

Shinji shrugged and slipped his shoes back on.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait! I've started up a webcomic so my time to write fic went down quite a bit but I'm trying to save time to keep updating. Hope you guys like this!

The rain hit in full force a minute after Kaworu tumbled to a stop in his backyard. Shinji was quickly ushered back into the house and the two boys leaned against the double glass doors as the rain pounded against them. Kaworu let out a small laugh as he folded back his wings. Shinji noticed that his friend only seemed to lightly fold the appendages against his smooth toned back, probably to avoid knocking things over. 

“Let me grab us some towels, that rain storm really came out of nowhere.”

Shinji could only nod as he awkwardly stood in Kaworu’s large house. The place was pretty spacious with only minimal white furniture. There were lots of framed pictures adorning the walls showing a large family all sporting grins. Shinji smiled a bit when he spotted the young white haired boy amongst the pictures grinning with the rest of his family. It was pretty cute. Kaworu was back a moment later with two fluffy towels, one draped over his shoulders and the other tucked under his arm. He handed the one under his arm to Shinji. 

“Are you okay? You got pretty quiet.” 

Shinji hadn’t realized he was zoning out until Kaworu’s words had brought him back from his mind. He took a moment to remind himself of the events that just happened, the soft touch of Kaworu’s palm in his hair, his voice saying those words over and over. _I was born to meet you_

“I’m okay.” 

Kaworu frowned a little bit, which was a rare sight. 

“Hey Shinji remember what I said before? About the piano?”

“Yea.”

“Well I’ve been working on a piece and would love for you to hear it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The piano was an older model with chipped keys and a fading paint job. It was clearly used often and while the keys were wearing down it was obviously out of love for the instrument. Kaworu excitedly lead Shinji over the the old thing and sat down in front of it, motioning for Shinji to join him. Shinji shyly walked over to the piano and sat on the edge of the bench, aware of the space between him and the other boy. Kaworu shook out his fingers before lightly placing them over the ivory keys. 

“I call this one ‘Angel’s ballad’, Don’t be too harsh on it okay? I’m still working on it.” Kaworu said a bit nervously. Shinji reassured him that it would be fine, relishing in the fact that for once Kaworu was the nervous one and not him. Kaworu smiled then shut his eyes, his hands naturally finding the first chord. 

The melody was soft and calming, and Shinji felt his nerves and emotions settle as he listen to the music. Kaworu swayed slightly to the melody as his fingers danced atop the piano and Shinji found himself swaying along with him. The music would swell and Shinji would feel the anguish the angel in the song felt, Kaworu’s fingers shifted up an octave and soon the tone changed to that of longing and joy. The song was over too soon and Kaworu was looking over at him with expectant eyes. 

“That was b-beautiful.” Shinji stammered.

Kaworu shot him a small smile before thanking him. 

“You know if you want, I can teach you some. Then we can play together.”

“I don’t know, you're so good I don’t want to hold you back.” 

“Nonsense, you will do fine.” 

Kaworu stood up and walked around to stand behind the other boy. Shinji looked back in surprise. 

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to teach you that’s what I’m doing.”

He carefully took Shinji’s wrist and guided his fingers to the correct keys. Shinji’s breath left him as he felt Kaworu’s chest on his back. He couldn’t even pay attention to what he was being taught because of the slight contact. He blinked and Kaworu was already beside him again at the piano. He jumped slightly before scrambling to find the keys he was supposed to play. 

 

An hour passed and Shinji never thought that he would enjoy improvising on the piano with Kaworu this much. He hadn’t even realized that a whole hour had gone by and probably wouldn’t thought anything about it if his phone hadn’t started buzzing. The pair had been taking a small break, stretching their cramped fingers while talking about the news that yet another transfer student would be coming in a few days, when Shinji flipped open his phone to see the ‘I’m here to pick you up’ text from Misato. 

He stood up and reluctantly told Kaworu he had to go, wishing he could just have one more hour of piano with him. 

“We’ll play together again soon. I’ll see you Monday too right?” Kaworu said as he lead him to the door. 

“Yea. Thanks for showing me the secret place and having me over.”

“Of course.”

He shot Shinji one more heartwarming smile before shutting the door.

~~

 

The minute that Shinji and Misato made it back to the apartment, Shinji locked eyes with Kaji and weakly asked.

“Um Kaji can you help me water the plants outside really quick?” 

Misato raised an eyebrow at that, glancing out through the glass door to the small balcony. 

“Water the plants? Wasn’t it raining a little bit ago?” Misato questioned, but Kaji shot her some sort of look that made her back off the subject.

“Sure kid, let me grab the watering can.” 

After the slightly rusted can had been obtained, Kaji ushered Shinji out onto the small balcony and shut the glass door before leaning against the iron railing. The ground was damp from the rain and Shinji couldn’t help but shiver slightly against the cool post-rain air. 

“So, is there something you wanted to tell me?” Kaji said, casually setting down the watering can near the plants, obviously not actually planning on watering them. 

“Yea, um so I’m not sure what this means but.” He took a shaky breath. “He said he was born to meet me.”

Kaji did a double take. “How old are you kids again? Fourteen right?” 

Shinji nodded and Kaji just shook his head a little muttering ‘damn’ under his breath. 

“Well Shinji if you want my opinion on the situation I think that he most likely likes you back, in fact if I was your age again and I thought up a pick up line like that then damn, I would have put it to good use let’s just say that” Kaji said with a chuckle. 

“Okay, I just didn’t want to, you know, assume stuff.” 

“Listen Shinji, I’m engaged and I haven’t heard a line that romantic for weeks.” 

Kaji ruffled Shinji’s hair and motioned towards the door.

“Now let’s head back inside, it’s chilly out here.” Kaji said, rubbing his arms against the damp air. 

“Wait Kaji.” Shinji raised a hand to stop his guardian from opening the sliding door. 

“What should I do? About y’know. . .” Shinji could feel his have heating up just by asking. 

Kaji turned to look back and just smiled slightly. 

“You should talk to him about how you feel. Though it's all really up to you, but my advice is that you will be happier if you tell him about it.” Alarms went off in Shinji’s mind, there was no way he would be able to muster up the courage to come out and say his feelings for the other boy. It just wasn’t in his nature to do so. 

“But what if he really doesn't like me back? Then what?” Shinji stammered before averting his gaze to the ground. 

“Well then at least you will know right? No use pining after someone if they aren’t interested. Man kid you're lucky I’ve been in quite a few relationships.” Kaji ruffled Shinji’s hair again before joking, “And if he really turns you down then I’ll send Misato after him, how about that?” 

Shinji just smiled weakly and let out a laugh. 

The pair went back inside just as Misato was getting off the phone with someone. She turned to look at Shinji and Kaji as they re-entered the living room. Kaji walked over to the kitchen sink and poured out the water from the watering can. 

“The plants are good now, the rain did a pretty good job at hydrating them.” He said casually before placing the watering can in its original place under the sink. 

“Can you both sit down for a moment at the table?” Misato said, stopping Kaji's playful banter. 

Her face was somewhat serious as she slid her cell phone back into her jacket pocket. Shinji frowned at her expression and cautiously moved to sit at the table, Kaji following suit. Misato tentatively took a seat across from them and reached for her work bag, dragging it over to where she was sitting and flipping it open. 

“Now I want you both to look at this with an open mind.” 

She pulled out a red folder and set in on the table, flipping it open and pulling out a sheet of paper. On the top of the paper was a name ‘Asuka Langley’ with a small photo of a girl with pinned back orange hair and a sour expression on her face. 

“Another person in my workplace adopted this girl but can’t take her in quite yet and needs me to look after her, or in this case, us to look after her.” Misato looked up to make eye contact with her fiance and newly adopted son. She gave an apologetic smile. “How does that sound?” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Author's Note:**

> The next chapter will be out soon, I have the next like two written already so when expect those to be out soon. Thanks for reading!


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